Garment



E. T.,NUNN

Sept. 3, 1946.;-

GARMENT Filed Sept. 15, 1945 2 She ets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

EL IZABE' TH rem-s NUNN A TT'OENEYS Patented Sept. 3, 1946 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE GARMENT Elizabeth Teresa Nunn, Cleveland, Ohio, assignorof one-half to Joseph River, Ohio inc C. Corcoran, Rocky ApplicationSeptember 13, 1943, Serial No. 502,134

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a garment for women and more particularly towhat may be called a strapless brassiere on the one hand, or to anygarment whether used as an under-garment or an outer garment, in whichthe strapless brassire forms the whole or a part thereof. That isto saythe distinctive construction and mode of operation of my invention lieswithin the brassiere, whether the same is worn as an undergarment aloneor as an outer garment with or without atshown, for example, in th priorUnited States Patents Nos. 1,871,106, 1,989,303 and 2,239,056, thesetaking a range of forms and designs variously designated as bandeau,brassire, corselette and the like. All of the prior art devices known tome, however, have fallen short of the ultimatelydesirable accomplishmentof supporting and concealing the breasts of the wearer withoutdiscomfort on the one hand and with security and freedom of movement onthe other hand.

tating it a little differently, brassieres, bandeaux straint upon thewearer, and on the other hand will permit the wearer to indulge in allreasonable manner of bodily movement incident, for example, to dancing,bowling, golfing and houseworkwithout concern that the garment will failin any of its intended mechanical or aesthetic functions. Other objectsinclude the provision of simplicity in design and. construction andfacility in laundering the garment as well as the manufacture thereof,and the ease with which it may be donned and taken off.

and the like which have contrived to stay in place,

have done so at the expense of comfort .or freedom of movement of thewearer, often by a ise-like grip on the wearers breasts and by thegarment being supported by the breasts rather than contributing to thesupport thereof. 0n the other hand, where a measure of freedom from sucha grip and encasement has been provided, it has been obtained at theexpense of the wearers peace of mind and at the cost of insecurityincident to th probability of the total or partial escape of all or partof one or both breasts from a position of modesty and concealment.Resort to adhesives and other such temporary expedients, while perhapssatisfactory for temporary or stage-like usage does not of course willexert no uncomfortable confinement or re- In carrying out the objects ofmy invention, I depart from the teachin and practice of the prior art inprinciple as well as in particulars of structure and mode of operationas will more fully appear in the following description of a preferredform of my invention, but generally speaking at .least one major andradical step of departure is this: whereas the prior art devices weredesigned to encompass and confin the whole of the breasts and to fitsnugly and generally thereabout, my

thought has been to permit those portions of the breasts which tend tomove with respect to the garment or parts thereof, as the wearer changesthe position of her body to have a freedom of movement within thegarment. At least two distinctive advantages result. On the one hand thewearer enjoys a sense of freedom in that neither the breasts noradjacent flesh are pinched or 30" confined or stretched as a result ofher bodily movement, and on the other hand those portions of the breastswhich tend to escape the confines of the garment as when the wearerraises her arms over her head are not restrained from reentry backwithin the confines or outline of the garment as when her arms arelowered.

Proceeding with this fundamental departure from the teaching of theprior art I have carried out the above mentioned objects, and otherobjects will become more fully apparent from the following descriptionof a preferred form of my invention, referencebeing had to theaccompanying drawings in Which-Figure l is an elevation of apreferredform of the brassiere or brassiere part of the garment laid outin a flattened condition; Figure 2 shows collectively th general shapeof the several portions or parts of the cloth or cloth-like parts of thegarment in pattern-like form prior to their assembly as viewed in Figure1; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the garment as associated with thebody of the wearer; Figure 4 is a transverse section along the lines 4-4through the body of the wearer and garment; Figure 5 is a similarsectional view taken along the line 5- 5 of Figure 3; and Figure 6 is adetail 3 of a portion of the garment in position on the wearer showingpartially in phantom view and diagram the relative motion and supportingcontact effected between different parts of the breast of the wearer andthe encompassing and engaging parts of the garment.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings the brassiere portion I ofthe garment, which as explained above when used alone comprises thewhole of the garment, is preferably made up of a plurality of pairs ofvertical right and left segments 2, 3 and 4 shown separately in Figure2. The segments may be conveniently designated back parts '2, side parts3 and front parts 4, rights and lefts of each being shown and used inthe complete garment. The several parts are joined along substantiallyvertical seams as shown in Figure 1, and vertical stays 5 are preferablyattached to the fabric along the seams which join the side and frontparts 3 and 4 along the transversely curved vertically extending linesformed by these seams, that is the curved edges 6 of the side parts 3and edges i of the front parts 4 when joined as by stitching form thecurved seams 8, see Figure 3, which when worn substantially overlie thenipples of the breasts as shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.

The stays 5 as shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 3 extendthroughout the full height of the garment and throughout the full lengthof the curved seams 8 which are necessarily of somewhat greater lengththan the height of the garment when the same is worn. The stays may beformed of suitable material well known in the art such as has beenvariously employed in socalled corset stays, and while various kinds ofmaterial are available, I prefer for convenience the more modern kind ofstay, which while having the desired characteristics of resiliency andflexibility, is preferably somewhat pliable and may be stitched directlyto the fabric of the garment since its character is such as to permitthe passage of needle and thread therethrough. Preferably also are thestays covered by an appropriate patch on the back side of the seam tokeep the stay as such out of direct contact with the skin of the wearer.If as this description proceeds I refer for convenience to a relation ofcontact between the stays and the breast or other part of the wearersbody, it will be understood that I have in mind the interposition of anappropriate interior fabric cover for the stay both for the sake ofcomfort and appearance. When the material of the stay permits directstitching of the fabric of the garment thereto that readily permits thestays and the fabric adjacent the seams B to be joined substantiallythroughout at common length as I prefer it. Where the stays do notpermit direct stitching, I prefer that this effect of complete juncturebe simulated as nearly as practicable. As will be understood b thoseskilled in the art the stays 5 lie with their minimum dimensiontransversely of the fabric so as to yield transversely as induced by theshape thereof and the shape of the body and breasts of the wearer. Inspeaking of pliability I have in mind that the stays may be given apreforming to the curves substantially as shown in Figure 3, retaining alimited resiliency thereafter, or may in the course of use adaptthemselves to considerable degree to the shape of the wearers body,saving the resilience to accommodate movement thereof from normalattitudes.

The front parts 4 of the garment are joined along a vertical seam 9, andas S o n in the drawings the bottom edge of these parts is substantiallyhorizontal while the top edges dip appropriately from the upper ends ofthe seams 8 to the upper end of the seam 9 more or less as theaesthetics of the situation demand to follow more or less the fashion ofthe V-necks. Since, however, the whole of the upper edge ill of thecompleted garment will be in a state of limited tension when worn, Iprefer that the V formed by the upper edges of the parts 4 lie at anobtuse angle substantially as shown so that no great tension istransmitted to the seam 9 when the garment is in use. Preferably theseam 9 is sewn on the straight of the material.

The parts 2 and 3 are joined along seams II which seams underlie thearms of the wearer when the garment is in use. The edges of the parts 3which enter into the seams H are preferably cut on the straight of thematerial, whereas the edges of the parts 2 are preferably cut on thebias to accommodate the reater peripheral length of the upper edge if)of the garment as compared with the lower edge l2 since the lower edgel2 will encircle the waist of the wearer and the upper edge IE! willencompass a greater dimension, see Figure 3. Similarly, the lower edgeof the back parts 2 of the garment may be cut on a slight outwardly anddownward curve and the upper edge especially of the parts 2 may becurved slightly substantially as shown to carry out the same thought inrespect to the shape of the wearers body. The extreme ends of parts 2may be provided with appropriate attaching means l3, hooks and eyes,zippers, buttons and button holes and the like as may be convenient.

Especially in instances where the wearer has a surplus of fleshy tissuein the zone between her arm pits and her waist band, I provide secondarystays Id shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 along the seams llpositioning and attaching the stays in the same way that the stays 5 areattached adjacent the seams 8, For normally slender women, however, Iprefer not to employ the stays M as the same are not necessary undersuch conditions and of course add to the expense and detract somewhatfrom the pliability and comfort of the garment as a whole.

The full effective height of the attaching means I3 is preferably equalin height to the height of the outer-most ends of the parts 2, i. e., sothat when the garment i worn the whole peripheral length thereof ofwidth or height substantially equaling the height of the outer end edgesl5 of the parts 2 can be to a uniform state of tension and snugnessabout the wearer. This lower portion of the whole garment below thedotted line [6, see Figures 1 and 3, I designate the waist band part ofthe garment and when the same is worn thi waist band part of the garmentis snugly fitted to the wearer and lies entirely below the wearersbreasts; the lower edge l2 preferably substantially coinciding with thewearers waist or waist line i. e. the smallest horizontal dimension ofher torso. Thus the waist band portion of the garment between the linesl2 and [6 assumes a relatively fixed relation to the body of the wearerwhen the same is Worn, and regardless of her bodily movement, remains inplace at and in a relatively narrow band around and above her waist.Within the wide variations in form and shape of the female torso. thewaist band part of the garment as measured for example by the height ofthe edges [5 and the attaching means I3 is less than one half the heightand often extends no more than about one third the height or length ofthe seams 8 and the stays 5. I have found it quite advantageous to keepthe height of the edges I5 and corresponding height of the waistband'part small, i. e. not exceeding the distance from the line to justbelow the breasts or the wearer because by so doing I reduce andsubstantially eliminate relative torsional motion between the upper edgeif] of the garment and the lower edge l2 thereof when the same is in useand when the torso of the wearer is twisted in normal bodily twistingmotion.

That portion of the garment lying above the line Hi, I convenientlydesignate the breast part of the garment since it covers the breasts ofthe wearer in the front and front-side portions thereof. As will be seenparticularly from consideration of Figures 2 and 3 the lower part of thebreast part being integrally joined with and directly adjacent to theupper part of the waist band part will have similar snugnes along anddirectly above the line l6 which snugness taken with the fullnessafforded by the curves of the seams 8 will snugly support the lower-mostparts of the breast of the wearer. The fullness of the parts of thegarment covering the breasts however is such that the snugness decreasesupwardly of the breast part of the garment with the result that when thewearer is standing normally upright the snugness of the fit willubstantially terminate at the level of the nipples of the breasts, i. e.at about the level of the line 4-4 as viewed in Figure 3 so that thebreasts will be I waistline the lower surface portions of her breastlifted somewhat and will tend to rest in the lower will turn outwardlyand upwardly curving under the lower portion of the breast and rising tooverlie the nipples thereof as shown in Figure a. The upper portion ofthe breast part i. e. that part'generally above the nipple of thebreasts and generally above the line 4-4 of Figure 3 will preferablymerely lie adjacent to the upper surface of the breast and adjacentflesh of the wearer and will serve essentially to curve the stays 5rearwardly and inwardly to conform to the contour of the wearer withoutbearing snugly or tightly thereupon, as shown with some littleexaggeration in Figure 5. While the wearer is standing or sitting in anormally upright position the upper seam or edge id of thegarment, whilepreferably having some snugness at the back incident to its merging tothe waist band portion of the garment and some snugnes on the risingcurved line around the back and rear sides of the wearer, may have nodirect or taut contact with the chest or upper breast part of thewearer, albeit in this position the edge It) will preferably be closelyadjacent thereto.

In Figure 6 I have sought to illustrate diagrammatically the mode ofoperation resulting from this construction in the fragmentary anddiagramm-atical view of the garment adjacent one of the seams 8 and oneof the stays 5 when the garment is in use. Since the waist band portionof the garment is snugly fitted, the point a on the wearers skin underthe seam 8 will move with the garment whilst the wearers body moves asby bending, stretching, twisting, or otherwise. Similarly the point I)on the wearers skin at the surface of the lower part of her may movewith the garment without discomfort. Similarly the point 0 of thesurface of the breast of the wearer, which may be substantially at thenipple, may have substantially continuous fixed contact with thegarment, and because of the increased thickness of the breast at thispoint the wearers chest or rib structure can move with respect to thegarment while the nipple of her breast remains in substantially fixedcontact with the garment without discomfort or inconvenience on the partof the wearer. At the point 11 however, taken for example midway betweenthe top of the breast and nipple I have illustrated by small arrows 20and 2| how I permit this portion of the wearers breast to move laterallywith respect to the garment as the body of the wearer has torsionalmovement. In this way, the upper breast structure is permitted to movewithin and behind the upper breast part of the garment with reat freedomand comfort to the wearer, so that whatever themotion of the wearersbody the breasts will return to a normal condition of repose andconcealment within the garment even though the upper parts thereof tendto be partially exposed by movements of the wearer. Similarly I havesought to indicate by laterally offset vertical arrows 22 and 23 thatdownward bending or upward stretching movement of the wearer accompaniedby corresponding movement of the ribs, pectoral muscles and the upperportions of the breasts relative to the waist of the wearer, and theWaist band portion of the garment, are permitted without discomfort tothe wearer and without the hazard of pinching or binding the breasts.Similarly as these portions of the body are free to move relative to thegarment, there is no tendency to move the garment from its desiredposition on the body of the wearer. What has been said especially aboutthe point :2 Will follow in correspondingly greater degree by a point 6taken thereabove higher on the breast or chest of the wearer, and inlesser degree with respect to other points at and above the point 0.Because as mentioned above the point c is at the thickest part of thebreast it will be least induced to move relative to its point of contactwith the garment during bodily movement of the wearer. In describing therelative movement between such points a-e in reference to Figure 6 thoseskilled in the art will of course be mindful of the differences betweenmature and immature breasts and bodies and the differences resultingfrom and incident to the degree of lift or uplift which the garment isdesired to impart to the breasts, and the adaptation of the shape of thegarment to these varying conditions Within the teaching hereof.

By carrying the stays 5 the full length of the seams 8 and throughoutthe full height of the waist band portion of the garment as abovedescribed I am able to eliminate wrinkling of the waist band portion ofthe garment particularly when the wearer bends forward and in thismanner I prevent the garment as a whole from losing its essentialposition with respect to the torso respect to' the wearers waist, sin-ceif the line l6 were permitted to fall with respect to the breasts of thewearer so would the upper edge I!) of the garment fall or be drawndownwardly and thus expose more of the breasts than intended as well asbind or tend to be carried by the upper parts of the breasts. By placingthe stays 5 as far apart as the nipples of the breasts and having themhe substantially in the vertical planes of the axes x of the nipples,see Fig. 4 it will be seen that these stays will be relatively widelyspaced at the front of the wearers waist whereby to permit and assuregreat comfort especially when the wearer bends or leans forward sincethese stays under such conditions do not aim, in the direction of thenavel but rather tend at their lower ends to splay outwardly right andleft as the wearer bends forward particularly if. the lower end of thestays have or acquire in use a slight outward flare at the bottom as.shown in Figure 3. With the stays overlying thev nipples of. the breastsand lying and flexing in the 'vertical planes of the axes thereof, i. e,the axis of generation of the surface of the breasts, assuming thebreast to be hemi-spherical, I avoid the discomfort of the sawing orshearing action of the stays or other relatively unyielding member thatlie at the line of junction of the breasts and the wall of the chestespecially at and above the level of the nipples, since relativemovement between the chest and such stays or members transversely of thedirection of flex thereof. tends to shear off or pinch the breasts. muchto the wearers discomfort. According to my invention, however, suchrelative motion is permitted wherever the bulk of the breast does notprovide its own rolling or anti-friction support and I obtain bothsupport and concealment on the one hand with all desirable freedom ofmovement and comfort on the other hand.

While I have not felt it necessary to illustrate While I haveillustrated and described the pre ferred form of my invention and what Ibelieve the best manner in which it may be performed and practiced,changes, improvements and modifications therein will occur to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the essential teaching andprecepts thereof and I do not care. to be. lirnited to the details andparticulars of the preferred form thereof nor in any manner other than,by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A garment of the strapless, brassiere type comprising a, waist bandpart adapted to snugly fit the wearer with a lower portion substantiallyat the wearers waist line and an upper portion adjacent to and below thewearersbreasts, and a breast part of maximum height in thefront of thegarment and adapted to rise above the breasts when worn and diminishingin height. to the upper portion of the waist band part at the back ofthe garment, transverselylflexible stayssecured to the fabric of bothsaid parts and extending from substantially the lower portion of thewaist band part to substantially thetopof said breast part atsubstantially right angles to vsai cl waist band part and being spacedin, saidcgarment, .17

be substantially aligned with the nipples of the wearers breasts, thesaid breast part having a front fullness adjacent said stays with thefullness restricted from the bottom edge of the breast part to about themiddle height of the breasts, whereby to draw the lower portion of saidbreast part and adjacent portions of said stays snugly against the lowerparts, of the breasts with decreasing snugness at increasing heights,and with the said fullness increased thereabove to permit substantialfreedom of movement between the surfaces of the upper parts of thebreasts and the inner surface of the fabric of the upper portion of saidbreast part of the garment, the upper edge of said breast part being ina state of tension opposing the tendency of said stays to stand awayfrom the curved surface of the upper parts of the breasts and drawingthe upper parts of said stays and adjacent fabric of the breast part ofthe garment back to substantially no more than free sliding contact withthe surfacesof the upper parts of the breasts.

2. A garment of the strapless brassiere type comprising a waist bandpart adapted to fit the wearer with its lower edge not substantiallyabove the wearers waist line and its upper edge below the wearersbreasts, and a breast part of maximum, height at the front of thegarment and adapted to cover the wearers breasts, said breast partdecreasing in, height from front to back and merging with the upper edgeof the Waist band part at the back, stays extending upwardly from saidwaist band part of said garment into said breast part thereof, andspaced apart and secured in the front part of said garment whereby to bealigned respectively with the nipples of the wearers breasts when saidgarment is worn, the said breast part having a front fullness restrictedfrom the bottom edge of the breast part to about the middle height ofthe breasts, whereby to draw the lower portion of said breast part andadjacent portions of said stays snugly against the lower parts of thebreasts with decreasing snugness at increasing heights and with the saidfullness increased from about the middle height of the breasts upwardlyto permit substantial freedom of movement between the surfaces of theupper parts of the breasts and adjacent flesh and the inner surfaces ofthe upper portion of said breast part and adjacent stays of the garment,the upper edge portion of the garment holding the upper parts of saidstays and the adjacent fabric of the breast part of the garment back tosubstantially novmore than free sliding contact with the surfaces of theupper parts of the breasts, the said breast and waist band partscomprising vertically extending integral pieces of fabric joined onvertically extending seams cut to achieve the said fullness and tootherwise conform to the contour of thewearer, and the fabric of atleast the said breast part being devoid of substantial tendency tocontract or stretch while being worn.

3. A garment Of the strapless brassiere type comprising a waist bandpart adapted to snugly fit the wearer with its lower edge substantiallyat the wearers waist line and its upper edge terminatingsubstantially inaplane adjacent to and below thewearersbreasts, and abreast part ofmaximum height at points adapted to be above the wearers breasts anddiminishing in height to substantial merger with the upper edge of thewaist band part at the back of the. garment, transversely pliable andresilient vertically disposed, stays associated with both said partsandextending from the lower edge of said waist band part to the points ofmaximum height of said breast part and disposed in said garment tosubstantially overlie the nipples of the wearers breasts when thegarment is worn, the said breast part having a front fullness adapted tobe disposed adjacent the breasts of the wearer with the fullnessrestricted from the bottom edge of the breast part to about the wearersmiddle height of the breasts, whereby to support the lower parts of thebreasts, and with the said fullness increased thereabove to permitsubstantial freedom of movement between the surfaces of the upper partsof the breasts and the inner surface of the upper portion of said breastpart of the garment, the upper edge of the garment merging with theupper edge of the said waist band part at the back and being in a stateof tension drawing the upper parts of said stays and the adjacent fabricof the breast part of the garment back to substantially no more thanfree sliding contact with the surfaces of the upper parts of the wearersbreasts, the snugness of the waist band part constraining said stays tosupport the wearers lower parts of the breasts and curve thereunder, andthe lower parts of said stays preventing wrinkling of the adjacentfabric of waist band part of the garment, said garment being devoid ofstays adjacent theline of junction between the upper and side portionsof the wearers breasts and chest.

4. A garment of the strapless brassiere type comprising a waist bandpart snugly fitting the wearer with its lower edge substantially at thewearers waist line and its upper edge terminating substantially in ahorizontal plane adjacent to and below the wearers breasts, and a breastpart of maximum height at points adapted to lie above the breastsrespectively and diminishing in height to substantial merger with theupper edge of the waist band part at the back of the wearer, flexibleresilient vertically disposed stays secured to the fabric throughoutboth said parts and extending from the lower-most edge of said waistband part to the points of maximum height of said breast part andadapted to substantially overlie the nipples of the wearers breasts, thesaid breast part having a front fullness adjacent said stays with thefullness restricted from the bottom edge of the breast part to about themiddle height of the breasts, whereby to draw the lower portion of saidbreast part snugly against the lower parts of the breasts withdecreasing snugness at increasin heights to support particularly thelower parts of the breasts, and with the said fullness increasedthereabove to permit substantial freedom of movement between thesurfaces of the upper parts of the breasts and adjacent flesh and theinner surface of the upper portion of said breast part of the garment,the upper edge of said breast part merging with the upper edge of thesaid waist band part at the back and being in a state of tensionopposing the tendency of said stays to stand away from the curvedsurface of the upper parts of the breasts and drawing void ofsubstantial tendency to contract or stretch while being worn, thesnugness of the waist band part constraining said stays to support thelower parts of the breasts and curve thereunder and the lower parts ofsaid stays preventing wrinkling of the adjacent fabric of waist bandpart of the garment.

5. A strapless brassire adapted to fit the wearer snugly about the waistand under the parts of her breasts below the nipples thereof and moreloosely cover the upper parts of her breasts, having resilient staysextending substantially the full height of the garment which stays arespaced in said garment to lie adjabent each breast of the wearer onlyadjacent the nipples thereof, each stay being disposed in the garment tolie when worn with its curving longitudinal center line substantially inthe vertical plane of the axis of generation of the respective adjacentbreast of the wearer, and each stay being adapted to flex with saidgarment in said respective plane and have yielding support with saidgarment for each breast of the wearer below the nipple thereof.

6. A garment of the strapless brassiere type comprising a lower waistband part adapted to encircle a female torso in and above the waist andbelow the breasts thereof, a breast part rising from said waist bandpart to a height at its upper edge at least in the front of said garmentsufficient to substantially overlie said breasts when said waist bandpart so encircles said torso, said breast part having spaced fullnessesadapted to accommodate each of said breasts, transversely yieldablestays spaced apart and secured to said waist band and breast parts ofsaid garment and disposed at substantially right angles to said waistband part thereof and lying in the said fulness of said breast part andextending substantially the full height thereof whereby to uphold theupper edge of the breast part over the wearers breasts, said stays beingdisposed in said arment and in the said fullnesses thereof to lie whenworn with their curving longitudinal axes adjacent the thickermid-porti0ns of the breasts and away from the thinner side edge portionsthereof, said stays being adapted to flex transversely with said garmentand give yielding support with said garment for the breasts of thewearer below the height of the nipples thereof, the said upper edge ofsaid garment constraining the upper parts of said stays to curvedproximity with the upper parts of said breasts when the garment is worn.

ELIZABETH TERESA NUN N.

